Hezbollah Announces Public Funeral for Hassan Nasrallah After Secret Burial

Gaza: Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, Naeem Qassem, has officially announced the funeral date of the group’s former Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, set for February 23. Nasrallah was killed five months ago in an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Nasrallah’s Secret Burial and the Upcoming Public Funeral

Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated on September 27, and following a religious decree, he was secretly and temporarily buried. Due to security concerns, Hezbollah officials had deemed it unsafe for party members and religious scholars to mourn publicly over his death. In a televised speech, Naeem Qassem revealed that the group had chosen February 23 for a collective funeral for Nasrallah.

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Qassem also announced that the funeral would include the funeral procession of Hashem Safiuddin, the former head of Hezbollah’s executive council, who was killed in a similar Israeli airstrike in early October. For the first time, Qassem disclosed that Safiuddin had been selected to replace Nasrallah as the Secretary-General, but before this announcement could be made, Safiuddin was also assassinated.

Funeral Locations and Hezbollah’s Comments on the Conflict

Nasrallah will be buried in the southern part of Beirut, while Safiuddin will be laid to rest in his hometown in southern Lebanon. In his speech on Sunday, Qassem criticized what he called the growing defeat of Hezbollah, stating that people in the south of Lebanon are shaping their present and future with honor and high positions.

Commenting on the ongoing war with Israel, the Hezbollah Secretary-General clarified that they have not spoken of complete victory but emphasized that the ongoing conflict involves both gains and losses.